Sheriff Johnson promotes Stein to Grand County undersheriff

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Following the retirement of former Grand County Undersheriff Jim Campbell in August, Grand County Sheriff Rod Johnson promoted Lt. John Stein of the Grand County Sheriff’s Office to the undersheriff position.

Stein enters the new position after four years with the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, with 20 years of law enforcement experience under his belt.

“John has a unique passion for law enforcement and for Grand County,” said Sheriff Rod Johnson in an email announcing Stein’s promotion. “John has demonstrated the kind of leadership qualities necessary to handle the position of undersheriff and I look forward to working with him.”

Stein started working with the Sheriff’s Office in 2009 as an investigator and was promoted to lieutenant in 2011.

“I’m very excited and ready to take on the new tasks,” Stein said.

Stein, like many Grand County residents, has fond memories of vacationing in Grand County as a child.

Stein used to travel to Grand County with his grandfather to spend his summers hunting and fishing in the area, he said. Stein has four children and a fifth on the way, he said.

Stein and his wife Heather, a chief deputy district attorney for the 14th Judicial District, have settled in Hot Sulphur Springs and are transforming the old Riverside Motel into a home for their family.

Stein and his wife were involved in the fatal shooting of Joshua Stevens, 32, on April 1 of this year at their home in Hot Sulphur Springs after the man attempted to enter the home. After the investigation of the incident by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, 1st Judicial District Attorney Peter Weir, who was assigned to review the investigation, found that the Steins acted in self-defense and did not violate any criminal statutes. No charges were brought against the Steins, and they both were taken off administrative leave after the investigation was complete.

“It was a tragic incident for everyone involved,” Stein said. Stein commented his family is still working through the aftermath of the incident through counseling sessions.

Stein already has been working to improve services offered by the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, including obtaining grants for two new fingerprinting machines and working through the kinks of new software for the agency.

The fingerprinting machines were purchased with grants to provide for more accurate fingerprint records by the agency, Stein said.

The agency is also improving services to inmates in the Grand County Jail, Stein said, and will be building a new commissary as well as improving the phone system in the jail.

But according to Stein, it will be business as usual as the agency works to improve its services to the citizens of Grand County.